Milwaukee, WI - Oakland departed its campus just north of Detroit last week for a regular season-ending two-game trip to Wisconsin knowing it would need some luck to return home as champions of the Horizon League. Trailing Valparaiso by a game, the Golden Grizzlies pretty much knew they would have to sweep Green Bay and Milwaukee and hope for a Valparaiso loss in one of its last two regular season games.

Oakland defeated Green Bay on Friday night, and as its game in Milwaukee restarted after half time, word trickled out that Valparaiso had just lost to Northern Kentucky. An Oakland victory would improve its record to 14-4 and lift the Golden Grizzlies into a tie with Valparaiso for the Horizon League Championship.

Behind the torrid shooting of redshirt senior Sherron Dorsey-Walker (6'4''-G), who connected on eight of eleven three-point shots on his way to scoring a game-high 28 points, Oakland pulled away from a 39-39 halftime tie to defeat the Panthers 86-75 to claim a share of the conference title. 'It feels really good,' said a proud Oakland Coach Greg Kampe. 'I've always believed good things happen to good people especially if those people are will to do the extra work and believe in themselves.'

Dorsey-Walker, a transfer from Iowa State, started the game like he might just shoot the Golden Grizzlies past the Panthers all by himself. He staked Oakland to a 6-0 lead connecting on a catch-and-shoot three-point shot from the corner and another off the dribble from above the top of the key. Milwaukee did not have an answer for the 6-4 Dorsey-Walker as he finished the half with 18 points on six of seven shooting from behind the arc.

'We were double teaming the post and they were able to get the ball out,' said Milwaukee Coach LaVall Jordan. 'We didn't have great communication on our rotations. He (Dorsey-Walker) has the size where he can shoot even if we were there on the close.'

'He (Dorsey-Walker) didn't break a sweat tonight,' said Kampe. 'Sharron has always done the extra work. I had a good feeling he would come through because he deserved it.'

Jordan can hardly be blamed devising a defensive approach designed to take away Oakland's interior scoring while taking his chances on the Golden Grizzlies' shooting from distance. Oakland two most prolific shooters from behind the arc, Dorsey-Walker and redshirt junior Martez Walker, entered the game shooting a combined 32 percent from distance, below average by NCAA division one standards.

But in addition to Dorsey-Walker's hot shooting, Walker had his long-distance shooting game going as well making four of seven three-point shots. A transfer from Texas, Walker finished second on the Oakland scoring list with 21 points. 'It's hard when we put ourselves in a hole that big (in the second half),' said Milwaukee's Brock Stull, whose 21 points led the Panthers in scoring. 'Every time we got a little closer, they'd make a shot and ruin the momentum we had.'

Kampe relied heavily on his starters on Sunday with each averaging over 32 minutes of playing time. But when he went to his bench in the second half, he received a huge lift from sophomore Xavier Hill-Mais, a 6-7, 250 pound big from Greensboro, North Carolina. A back-to-the-basket post player, Hill-Mais went to work shortly upon his insertion into the game at the 15 minute mark of the second half. In between a short shot in the paint, the right-hand dominant Hill-Mais connected on jump hooks with first his left hand and then his right hand.

'That was a big momentum swing when Hill-Mais made those three baskets right in a row,' said Jordan.

Although their numbers did not stand out the way Dorsey-Walker and Walker's did, Oakland got what it needed from its two starting bigs, 6-7 redshirt junior Jalen Hayes and 6-8 freshman Isaiah Brock. Both are run-and-jump post players who fit in well with Oakland's fast-paced attack. Entering the game as Oakland's second leading scorer, Hayes finished with 12 points and used short jump hook shots in the paint with his dominant hand (left) for the majority of his five field goals. Brock fell just short of a double-double scoring eight points and collecting nine rebounds. Two of his three baskets came running the floor and cleaning up his teammates' misses in transition.

Even as Oakland and Valparaiso enter the Horizon League Tournament with identical 14-4 records, Oakland earned the top seed based on its two regular season wins against Valparaiso. 'Since we beat them (Valparaiso) twice, we get the automatic bid to the NIT (National Invitational Tournament),' said Kampe. 'We don't want to go to the NIT, but it's a nice consolation prize.'

Kampe was reflective in his post-game thoughts recalling the time five years ago when Oakland made the jump from the Summit to the Horizon League. 'We had our way in the Summit and if we had stayed in that league, we would have been in the (NCAA) tournament a few more times than we've been in it,' said Kampe. 'Our president asked me if we were going to make the move, can we win? I said 'yes,' but it's not going to be easy. I promised less than five years and this was out last chance to fulfill that promise. It's emotional for me to come through on that promise.'

So it's on to the conference tournament for both schools to be held at the Joe Lewis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings, in downtown Detroit, Michigan from March 3-7. Milwaukee takes on Detroit-Mercy on March 3 while Oakland gets started on March 4 against the winner of the March 3 match-up between Cleveland State and Youngstown State.

In years past, the regular season league champion, Oakland in this case, would have hosted the conference tournament in its own gym. 'It could have been at the O'rena (Oakland's home gym), but I'm glad it's a neutral site,' said Kampe. 'This league needs to wrap its arms around Joe Lewis Arena. It's great for the kids and teams. I just hope we're around for all four days of it.'

Milwaukee heads to Detroit dragging a nine-game losing streak with it. But Milwaukee senior Cody Wichmann sounded upbeat as his team started its preparation for Detroit. 'Anything can happen in the tournament,' said Wichmann. 'No one gave us much of a chance in my freshman year, and we ran the table and won it. It's a possession by possession game from here on out. As coach told us, we've played every team tough at one point this year, and that gives us hope.'

South Carolina is adding some immediate help in its follow-up season to a Final Four run. Wesley Myers (6'2''-G-95), a graduate transfer from Maine, is joining the Gamecocks' program, according to FanRag Sports' Jon Rothstein. The 6-foot-2 guard gives Frank Martin's team an instant infusion of scoring as they look to replace SEC player of the year Sindarius Thornwell and PJ Dozier. Myers 16.9 points per game last year on 43.7 percent shooting, including a 34.3 percent mark from 3-point ra... [read more]

South Carolina is adding some immediate help in its follow-up season to a Final Four run. Wesley Myers (6'2''-G-95), a graduate transfer from Maine, is joining the Gamecocks' program, according to FanRag Sports' Jon Rothstein. The 6-foot-2 guard gives Frank Martin's team an instant infusion of scoring as they look to replace SEC player of the year Sindarius Thornwell and PJ Dozier. Myers 16.9 points per game last year on 43.7 percent shooting, including a 34.3 percent mark from 3-point range. He's the second grad-transfer Martin has picked up this offseason, joining Florida Atlantic's Frank Booker. The pair should help ease the transition from last year's success to a much less experienced team that returns just a pair of starters. Myers, though, doesn't arrive in Columbia without some notable history. Last year, after transferring to Maine from Niagara, was suspended after an altercation with a teammate, according to reports. He and teammate Marko Pirovic argued over locker room music, and the alleged ensuing altercation left Pirovic with a broken jaw, according to reports. Three other Maine players were suspended after telling a team athletic trainer that Pirovic had injured himself in a fall in the shower. Pirovic declined to press charges.Courtesy of: nbcsports.com

Top prospect Marvin Bagley III commits to Duke, to enroll for 2017-18 season - 2 days ago

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Marvin Bagley III(6'6''-F-99) III, who may just be the best basketball prospect in the world that is not in the NBA, announced on Monday night that he will be attending Duke and enrolling at the school for the fall semester. Bagley is the seventh member of Duke's 2017 recruiting class, joining top ten prospects Trevon Duval and Wendell Carter, another five-star recruit in Gary Trent Jr., four-star wings Alex O'Connell and Jordan Tucker, and three-star point guard Jordan Goldwire. The Ariz... [read more]

Marvin Bagley III (6'6''-F-99) III, who may just be the best basketball prospect in the world that is not in the NBA, announced on Monday night that he will be attending Duke and enrolling at the school for the fall semester. Bagley is the seventh member of Duke's 2017 recruiting class, joining top ten prospects Trevon Duval and Wendell Carter, another five-star recruit in Gary Trent Jr., four-star wings Alex O'Connell and Jordan Tucker, and three-star point guard Jordan Goldwire. The Arizona-native picked Duke over USC and UCLA in the end, but he also the likes of Kansas and Arizona also recruited him. Bagley has long been considered the best prospect in the Class of 2018 and one of the best prospects in all of high school. He's also already 18 years old, meaning that he is a year older than what you would consider a typical high school senior. Reclassifying, graduating early and enrolling in college means that the 6-foot-11 combo-forward is eligible to declare for the 2018 NBA Draft. And rest assured, that was the impetus for this decision. He's good enough that he'll likely end up somewhere on every Preseason All-American team that you see this fall, he'll join Michael Porter Jr. and Deandre Ayton as the odds-on favorites to be the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft and, at this point, it looks like Duke will once again enter the season as the preseason No. 1 team in the country.Courtesy of: nbcsports.com

Wisconsin got off to a winning start on its five-game trip to New Zealand and Australia on Tuesday, beating an NZ Breakers squad 85-75. The Badgers were tied 57-57 after three quarters but pulled away to win the first of their two games in New Zealand. Wisconsin, the alma mater of current Breakers shooting guard Kirk Penney, will next play a Breakers selection in Tauranga on Thursday before playing three games in Australia on the 12-day trip. Sophomore Brevin Pritzl (6'3''-G) led Wisconsi... [read more]

Wisconsin got off to a winning start on its five-game trip to New Zealand and Australia on Tuesday, beating an NZ Breakers squad 85-75. The Badgers were tied 57-57 after three quarters but pulled away to win the first of their two games in New Zealand. Wisconsin, the alma mater of current Breakers shooting guard Kirk Penney, will next play a Breakers selection in Tauranga on Thursday before playing three games in Australia on the 12-day trip. Sophomore Brevin Pritzl (6'3''-G) led Wisconsin with 27 points, while Ethan Happ (6'9''-F-96) added 17. Wisconsin coach Greg Gard used Brevin Pritzl, Happ, D'Mitrik Trice, Khalil Iverson (6'5''-G/F) and Alex Illikainen (6'9''-F) in a new-look starting formation. The team is building a new frontline around Happ following the departure of big men Nigel Hayes and Vitto Brown. The NCAA allows teams to make exhibition tours overseas every four years. Wisconsin's last overseas trip, to Canada in 2013 when it was also replacing much of its starting lineup, preceded the first of its back-to-back Final Four appearances. The Breakers have won the Australian National Basketball League (ANBL) in four of the last seven years. Meanwhile, the Breakers will face the Cairns Taipans, Perth Wildcats and Adelaide 36ers during the ANBL's Blitz preseason tournament from September 7-10 in Victoria. The Breakers will meet the Taipans and September 7 and Wildcats on September 9 at the Traralgon Basketball Centre in the Latrobe Valley, east of Melbourne, then the 36ers on September 10 in Whittlesea, north of Melbourne. "This will be an early hit out for us, with just over a week and a half together but while it might be a touch early for us in our preparation it is a good chance to bond together on the road as much as it is a chance to work on court," head coach Paul Henare said. The Breakers are close to confirming a preseason tour in New Zealand, with the announcement due in the next week.Courtesy of: stuff.co.nz

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